We welcome you to….

1. We welcome you to…. Medical Education Day - 2014

2. Your Facilitators… • Daniel Blash, PhD – WUSM Diversity & Inclusion Leader • Denise M DeCou - WUSM Diversity & Inclusion Leader • Lynn Dull - Organization Development Consultant - Applied Leadership     • Heather Hageman - Director of Educational Planning and Program Assessment / Director, Standardized Patient Program – WUSM Office of Education • Rochelle Smith –Director, Diversity, Summer Programs and Community Outreach WUSM Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences • Steve Taff, PhD, OTR/L - Associate Director of Professional Programs & Instructor in Occupational Therapy and Medicine Workshop Session: “Exploring Unconscious Bias in Educational Encounters”

3. Description:A 90-minute interactive workgroup presentation designed to highlight the issue of unconscious bias in the academic setting. The presentation will include experiential activities, as well as short lectures and group interaction. Participants will learn ways to enhance educator and student awareness of unconscious bias and strategies to limit negative impact on learning climate. Objectives: - Observe how biases can affect one’s thoughts and actions - Understand the impact of bias and how it can define communication - Learn about strategies to combat unconscious bias in the academic environment Medical Education Day - 2014

4. Unconscious Bias: Unconscious biases are simply our natural people preferences. Biologically we are hard-wired to prefer people who look like us, sound like us and share our interests. Neuro-psychologists tell us it is built into the very structure of the brain's neurons. Our unconscious brain processes and sifts vast amounts of information looking for patterns (200,000 times more information than the conscious mind). Thus, unconscious bias operates at a very subtle level, below our awareness. Medical Education Day - 2014

5. Symphony Auditionshttps://www.aamc.org/video/t4fnst37/index.htm Medical Education Day - 2014

6. Introductions….one word that describes your teaching style Medical Education Day - 2014

7. Understanding Unconscious Bias Medical Education Day - 2014

8. Cognitive Dissonance Widely held self-view in higher education: “I am a fair, unbiased individual who treats all people in the same way.” • Research demonstrates that individuals who hold strong egalitarian values and/or believe they are not biased may still unconsciously or inadvertently behave in a discriminatory manner (Dovidio, 2001) • To improve climate, we must understand that unconscious biases do still influence our interactions, even if we are committed to equality

9. Two Competing Bias Theories • Freudian Psychology - the human mind defends itself against the discomfort of guilt by denying or refusing to recognize those ideas, wishes and beliefs that conflict with what the individual has learned is good or right. • Cognitive Psychology– culture (including the media and an individual’s peers, and authority figures) transmits certain beliefs and preferences. Because these beliefs are so much a part of the culture, they are not experienced as explicit lessons. Instead, they seem part of the individual’s rational ordering of the world.

10. Awareness: New Research re: Bias • In the past, bias was regarded as aberrant, conscious and intentional. • Today, we understand that bias is normative, unconscious and largely unintentional. • Social Cognition Theory establishes that mental categories and personal experiences become “hard-wired” into cognitive functioning. • As a result, human biases can be seen as evolutionarily adaptive behaviors.

11. Human Biases are Evolutionarily Adaptive Behaviors • We go out in the world every day and make decisions about what is safe or not. Much of this decision-making is automatic and unconscious. Our brains determine whether or not something or someone is safe before we can even begin to consciously make a determination. • When the object, animal, or person is assessed to be dangerous, a “fight or flight” response occurs in our Amygdala – a part of the brain that processes alarm. • Scientists estimate that we are exposed to as many as 11 million pieces of information at any one time, but our brains can only functionally deal with about 40. So how do we filter out the rest? • Answer: we use categories as a form of intellectual short-hand.

12. What Activates Our Biases? Our biases are most likely to be activated by some key conditions. They are: • Stress • Time constraints • Multi-tasking • Need for closure • Fear

13. Antecedent Conditions that Encourage Stereotypes Psychologists have identified antecedent conditions that encourage stereotyping. • Stereotyping is likely to occur when the target has “solo” or near-solo status (i.e., the only person of color among all white colleagues or the only woman among all male colleagues) among an otherwise homogeneous group. • Another condition shown to enable stereotyping in the employment context is the perceived lack of fit between the target’s category (i.e., female, of color, etc.) and occupation.

14. Research on Gender Bias A study of postdoctoral fellowships awarded by the Medical Research Council in Sweden found that female candidates needed substantially more publications (3+ papers in Nature or Science , 20+ papers in specialty journals such as Infection & Immunity or Neuroscience) to achieve the same rating as men, unless they personally knew someone on the panel (Wenneras & Wold, 1997) A study of over 300 recommendation letters for medical faculty at a large US medical school found that letters written for female applicants differed systematically from those of males • Reinforced gender schemas of women as teachers & students, men as researchers & professionals • Higher percentage of doubt raisers in letters for women (Trix & Psenka, 2003)

15. Can Unconscious Bias Be Controlled? Researchers long believed that because implicit associations develop early in our lives, and because we are often unaware of their influence, they may be virtually impervious to change. But recent work suggests that we can reshape our implicit attitudes and beliefs or at least curb their effects on our behavior. In particular, there are several strategies that appear to make a difference:

16. Can Unconscious Bias Be Controlled? Information – re: the psychological basis of bias Motivation- internal (vs. external) motivation to change Individuation– learning to see diverse others as individuals rather than as members of groups. *Direct contact with members of other groups. Working together on teams, as equals, in pursuit of common goals. Context/environment – images of leaders from diverse groups helps

17. The Diversity-Excellence Nexus Organizations that are more diverse adapt more readily, effectively & creatively to change & challenge (Cox, 1993; Kanter, 1983; McLeod, Lobel& Cox, 1996) Scholarship, research & teaching are enhanced by multiple perspectives (Antonio 2002; Milem, 2003; Nelson & Pellet, 1997; Turner, 2002) Inclusion of diversity topics in curriculum improves students’ cognitive development, critical thinking, leadership skills & satisfaction with college (Astin, 1993; Gurin, 1999, 2002; Milem & Hakuta, 2000; Pascarella, et al., 1996)

18. “Perspectives” Medical Education Day - 2014

19. Activity: Recognizing our cultural exposure and experiences Medical Education Day - 2014

20. Classroom Scenario & Table DiscussionWhat might you do if this happened in your classroom setting?What risks do you take by addressing the issues?What risks do you take by not addressing the issues? Medical Education Day - 2014

21. A closing message: L.e.a.r.nListen Empathize Acknowledge Recommend Negotiate Medical Education Day - 2014